Baby Pens gobble up Hershey Bears

After three-straight wins over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the Bears were blanked on Thanksgiving Eve at Giant Center, 4-0.

HERSHEY - In bowling terms, the Hershey Bears already had a turkey prior to Wednesday's clash at the Giant Center. They played like it, too.

After beating Wilkes-Barre/Scranton three times in three encounters, the Bears looked lethargic on Thanksgiving Eve, losing 4-0 to the Baby Pens on "Turkey Shoot Night" at the rink.

The visitors netted a pair of power play goals in a penalty-filled second period, enough to hand Hershey its fifth loss in six games. Beau Bennett, Simon Despres and Benn Ferriero all scored special teams' tallies, while Warren Peters added an even-strength marker in the final two minutes.

"(Our) power play did a nice job to recover pucks, and we were able to find a way to get the puck to the net, which is the most important thing," Wilkes-Barre coach John Hynes said. "It was definitely a momentum changer for us."

Goaltender Jeff Zatkoff notched the shutout by stopping 15 shots, including just one in a methodical third period. The Baby Pens became the 15th team in 16 games to outshoot the Bears, who rank last in the AHL in shots per game at 22.9.

"It was disappointing for sure - a lack of execution maybe more than a lack of effort," said Bears head coach Mark French. "We had some waves where we had some rushes, but it didn't generate a shot. Obviously, we need to have a better shot mentality in those situations."

In the first period, neither team gained an upper-hand, battling to a scoreless draw. Both squads came up empty on a pair of power-play attempts, while the Baby Pens finished with a 7-6 edge in shots on goal.

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Visiting forward Eric Tangradi took a puck to the head midway through, but the veteran left winger returned to start the second.

A holding call on Dmitry Orlov led to the visitors third power play, which resulted in a fluke goal by Bennett. Skating on right side, Bennett centered a pass in front of Bears goalie Braden Holtby which hit the skate of defenseman Steve Oleksy and caromed into the back of the net. Bennett's gift goal made it 1-0 at 4:28 of the second.

Exactly 61 seconds later, following roughing penalty on Garrett Stafford, Wilkes-Barre converted another 5-on-4 opportunity on a snapping wrist shot from Despres. Assisted by Riley Holzapfel and Dylan Reese, Despres whizzed a shot through traffic, over the right shoulder of Holtby (26 saves on 30 shots).

"I think when you shoot the puck, especially on the power play; that was the difference early," added French. "But the 5-on-5, especially early, I thought we were getting our chances."

The game took a physical turn midway through the second period after Hershey's Matt Clackson and WBS's Steve MacIntyre engaged in a heavyweight scrap. MacIntyre, a 6-foot-5, 270-pounder, appeared to have the edge, although several cheap shots to a defenseless Clackson prompted an immediate game misconduct for "Big Mac." Fifteen penalties in total were called during the second.

"(Clackson's) that type of guy. He's not going to turn down a fight with anybody," said French. "Whether it's standing up for a teammate or a situation like that. He does his job and he does it quite well."

In the third, Ferriero iced the game with an unassisted shorthanded goal at 1:03. After a turnover, Ferrerrio beat Holtby to the glove side to make it 3-0. Peters added the last goal at 18:05 on slap shot from the left point.

"It was kind of a slower period; there were a lot offsides and whistles," added Hynes. "Neither team could really get a lot of momentum going; just how the period was."

Following the game, Washington general manager George McPhee announced the end of the co-head coaching co-op in Chocolatetown.

Fans participate in Hershey's traditional "Turkey Shoot" following Wednesday's game against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Capitals coaches Adam Oates and Calle Johansson are returning to the Nation's Capital and will no longer share bench duties in Hershey with French and assistant Troy Mann.

The Bears are back in action Sunday at 5 p.m. when former Bear Keith Aucoin and the Toronto Marlies visit Giant Center. The game, dubbed "Pink the Rink," will feature several charitable efforts to raise support and money for the American Cancer Society.

Notes: Scratches for the Bears on Wednesday included Patrick McNeill, Matt Pope, Julien Brouillette, Ryan Stoa (day-to-day) and Jonathon Kalinski (day-to-day). Hershey's Jon DiSalvatore remains stuck on career point No. 499. The right wing has been held scoreless in the last four contests. Bears captain Boyd Kane sits two games away from tying Frank Mathers and Andre Gill for 39th place on Hershey's all-time games played list. Kane has appeared in 306 games for Hershey and 880 AHL career games. Earlier Wednesday, Hershey assigned forwards Stanislav Galiev and Barry Almeida to ECHL-affiliate Reading. With the duo in the lineup at Sovereign Center, the Royals defeated the Bears' former affiliate South Carolina in a 5-4 shootout for a franchise record 10th straight win.